The Longer Route
by Sallis
Summary: Naruto thinks Sasuke's advances towards Sakura are too damn subtle. Sasusaku.


Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, but Sasuke owns my heart. Sigh.

Edit! Oh my GOD, I just don't know how many times I have to reupload this one, hopefully this would be the last time. I'm putting it strictly under SasuSaku and by that meaning the main characters are tagged under Sasuke and Sakura even though I originally thought that the focus would be on Sasuke and Naruto's friendship despite the SasuSaku-ness, but SasuNaru shippers expected their part of the romance to come on so yeaaaaaaah. No SasuNaru here guys SORRY.

I do not want to have to explain myself again!

SasuSaku fans, I hope y'all like this at least.

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"Come on, Sakura-chan! We haven't got all day!" blonde boy Naruto yelled from the passenger side of the car. The window screen was wound down and his elbow was resting on the edge of the window. His head peeked out of the car a little, feeling the cool breeze of summer mornings against his face and through his hair. The boy looked over to the girl on the door step who was currently in frenzy.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm coming! Hold your horses!" a slim, pink haired girl shouted while frantically raiding her handbag for her missing house keys. As soon as she felt her house keys with her fingertips she yanked them out. She hated being rushed, especially with Naruto yelling at her in public. All of it got her so stressed out. She was usually very responsible and punctual but she guessed she probably woke up on the wrong side of the bed that day.

She quickly locked the front door and scurried to the blue Honda Civic parked in front of her.

"Hey Sasuke," she said to the dark haired boy in the driver's seat as she got into the car.

"Hn," he merely nodded in response.

"Naruto," Sakura said only acknowledging her excited blue-eyed friend rather coldly.

"Sakura-chaannn.." Naruto whined, knowing he had gotten into his friend's bad side. He crossed his arms and sulked.

Sasuke lifted the brakes and started driving. "So, where do you guys want to eat?" he asked.

"RAMEN!" Naruto exclaimed very loudly.

"Err, do we have a choice?" Sakura shrugged in reply through the rear view mirror. As bossy as Sasuke and Sakura might get sometimes, Naruto usually made the call when it came to where and what they should eat—and surprise, surprise; it was usually _ramen_. _Ichiraku's_ ramen to be exact.

Sakura sat back and tried to relax herself and get comfortable in her seat. The leather seats felt foreign as it was a new car Sasuke recently bought after saving up for some time.

"Hey Sasuke?" she asked.

"Hn."

"Nice ride."

"Thanks." Sasuke took a glance at the girl in the back seat of his car through the rear view mirror. Within a mere 3 seconds he registered what she was wearing. She was wearing a short A-line red dress that had repeating patterns of the heart shape in black. The dress stopped an inch before her knees. She also had a small bright yellow sling bag on her lap. After paying Sasuke a compliment, she opted to check on her belongings once again to make sure nothing important was left behind.

His thoughts wandered off when his eyes resumed looking at the road. He silently wondered if she really did mean the compliment or was it all just an attempt of small talk. Knowing Sakura, it was probably a little bit of both. Though the three of them had been friends ever since their elementary days, in the back of his head, he always knew that despite them always fighting with Naruto, he knew that the both of them were both more comfortable with the loud blonde idiot.

Not that Sasuke had never noticed before, but he got the confirmation during high school that Sakura had had a massive crush on him. Naruto claimed that it began ever since they were little. _That blabbermouth_. Ever since then, he noticed how Sakura had been distancing herself from him and Naruto despite knowing them for so long. Instead, she got closer to her girlfriends. Especially the blonde one with the high pony tail. Ino, was it? He always wondered how they were best friends when they were calling each other ridiculous _pet_ names like 'Forehead girl' or 'Boar'. He scoffed at the idea, oblivious to the fact that he had been calling his own best friend 'Dobe' since the beginning of times while being called a 'Bastard' in return. Sasuke was never _really_ fond of Ino, but if she made Sakura happy..

He figured that Sakura felt awkward and maybe a little bit shy about him knowing. Now, currently in their college days, they both had worked through their awkward encounters—thanks to Naruto and Ino—and had become close friends again.

"Yeah yeah whatever. This ain't nothing. Wait till you listen to the stereo Sasuke installed on this baby!" Naruto interrupted.

Naruto quickly turned the radio on and switched to their favourite radio station. Luckily enough for Naruto, the ending of a song by his favourite band was playing and he turned up the volume to an almost maximum. A very excited Naruto began head banging to the fast beat of the song. The bass was pounding in the car and you would have to be dead to not feel the overwhelming vibration coming from the speakers. Sakura jerked her hands up to cover her ears while Sasuke flinched, hands clenching on the steering wheel a little tighter. Naruto on the other hand was quite enjoying himself. He was now shutting his eyes while belting out the lyrics with much intensity and concentration.

"Dobe, relax!" Sasuke opted to give a sharp push to Naruto's head and turning down the volume dramatically after. It wasn't because he didn't have the same appreciation to Naruto's taste in rock bands, but blasting his new stereo full blast was going to upset his eardrums, Sakura's and especially his new stereo and speakers. Not to mention looking like a douche bag on the road with music so obnoxiously loud. Naruto's eardrums were probably already damaged as it is which could explain his need to talk so loudly all the time. He could be partially deaf all this while and they might never have ever known about it. Sasuke made a mental note to show his _concern_ by asking him to go for a hearing check up. If Naruto didn't have a hearing problem, it would probably work to piss Naruto off by the end of the day.

"Oi, Naruto. Do you think that maybe we should bring you for a hearing check up after breakfast? Nothing's ever loud enough for you and you always seem to talk too loud."

"TEME! What did you say?" he shouted in retaliation to Sasuke's show of _concern_.

Sakura giggled at their interaction. _Ever so brotherly_. She tried to stifle her laugh, not wanting to get in the verbal war. Before Naruto could think of a comeback, the next thing they knew, a rather familiar song was playing right after a brief commercial.

"_I've tried playing it cool, but when I'm looking at you~"_

Sakura squealed with delight. She didn't care that she looked like a crazed fan girl because as of that moment, she had no shame. She thought Justin Bieber, Twilight and all those tween interests were lame, but One Direction? One Direction was the _only_ exception. One Direction was her _guilty pleasure_, that was for sure.

"_..I can't ever be brave~"_

"Aww man, do we really need to listen to this? Who listens to this shit anyway? Here, let me change—" Naruto whined in exasperation. Naruto's hand headed to the Next button and he felt a hand swiftly slapping his to prevent him from changing the station. Retreating his hand and returning it to his chest, he crossed them and accepted defeat. Just what he needed; some lame boy band song to ruin his morning. He was already so hungry, having missed dinner the night before because he had forgotten all about it playing video games—I mean, doing homework. He wondered what was so special about the band of girly looking teenage boys and then began to wonder if Hinata were into them as much as Sakura was.

"_Yeah, frozen and can't breathe~"_

"Let it be, Naruto! I love this song!" she defended while it was now her turn to turn up the volume a few notches.

They heard Sasuke sighed heavily. After so many years of putting up with the loud, boisterous personalities such as Naruto and Sakura, Sasuke was surprised to find himself expecting anything less dramatic and loud from them. It was as if he never really gotten used to it, and yet the situation they were in right now—the two of them bickering and whining—was all too familiar.

"_Get out, get out, get out of my head~"_

"Thank GOD we're almost at Ichiraku! I don't have to finish listening to some gay boy band songs anymooooore!" Naruto exclaimed proudly flailing his arms around in mocking joy. He felt a hard slap at the back of his head.

"_I don't, I don't, don't know what it is~" _

"Shut _up_ dobe! It's the chorus now, at least let me enjoy it while I can," Sakura said pouting, hands on her hips.

"Hey, hey, hey! I thought only Sasuke calls me that!" Naruto squealed. "Not you too, Sakura-chyaaaaaaan!" he pleaded.

"Hn," Sasuke merely grunted. He suddenly turned left toward a junction that was off their usual route.

Naruto was taking off his seat belt, thinking they were nearing their destination when he suddenly realized they were off track. "Huh, teme? What are you _doing_?" Naruto asked in a panic. Any time lost in their journey would be time lost for an extra bowl of ramen. Not to mention they are nearing the end of Ichiraku's breakfast deals.

"Hey, baka! Why are you taking the long way? We usually take the shortcut," Naruto rambled frantically. "Are you _stupid_, Sasuke? You're wasting time and I'm hungry and—" Naruto was daresay, genuinely shocked. It wasn't like his friend to waste time, or drive that slow for that matter.

"Dobe, just shut up for once. I'm sure both of us would gladly appreciate it," Sasuke interrupted sarcastically. Sakura was wide-eyed at the favour Sasuke did for her (she _supposed_..) without her asking.

"Oh, I see what's going on here," Naruto's eyes narrowed with suspicion. He had always felt something fishy going on between Sasuke and Sakura. Ever since he could remember Sasuke had always been the overly protective one when it came to Sakura. Naruto knew it was his way of showing.. What was that word? Oh, _affection_. Naruto shuddered at the thought. Naruto wasn't _really_ a dunce, he argued. He could see everything as light as day. Sure, Sakura's interest in Sasuke at one point in their lives (ahem, _middle school_) was pretty darn obvious, but if Naruto wasn't such a damn _genius_, he never would have figured out that Sasuke might actually have feelings for their Sakura-chan!

_Damn, Sasu-chan. You sneaky_. He thought.

Sasuke shot a threatening look and continued driving, speed a little slower than his usual. _Don't you dare_.

Naruto tried his best to keep his cool, he could not let this secret spill. Wait, was it even a secret? Sasuke never actually told him it was, did he? He never told Naruto to keep shut about anything regarding this matter. But then again, they never _actually_ talked about it. The last time he brought the topic up (which was after Sasuke had invited Sakura to be his date for Prom), Naruto was left blabbering and talking by himself while Sasuke successfully ignored all questions or attempts of finding out the truth. Sasuke never denied it. He just told Naruto, 'We're just friends' over and over. But he never _denied_ that he _liked_ her, Naruto argued time and time again.

Naruto leaned his head back and closed his eyes for a second. He remembered those times Sasuke would always, always end up near or next to Sakura. He calls her annoying but can't keep himself too far away from her; _that_ has _got_ to mean something! Sasuke was so stupid when it came to girls, _as if_ he would hurt his pride by letting anyone know how he actually feels! Naruto admitted this with no shame that if he had Sasuke's looks and cool-guy-charm, he'd put it to good use.

Naruto sighed and bowed his head a little lower. He pinched the bridge of his nose and shook his head. This guy was so hopeless! How long were they going to run around pretending that nothing was going on between them! Naruto did not do subtle. He settled for the obvious, for the clear truth. He couldn't stand subliminal messages. He wondered if Sakura had figured out why Sasuke drove an extra distance so that she could finish listening to her boy band song. Maybe she needed some enlightenment, Naruto would be glad to help. He opened his mouth but nothing came out. He felt Sasuke's glare before he even saw it.

From behind the car, the boys could hear soft humming from Sakura who was currently oblivious to the mental war going on in the front seat. She bopped her head and danced a little in her seat. Sasuke looked at the view from the rear view mirror and Naruto couldn't miss how he saw Sasuke's usually cold, dark eyes soften at the sight of the pink haired girl just having fun. Sakura seemed very pleased and happy. And that was all Sasuke ever intended for.

Turning at another corner, Sasuke sped up as he caught sight of Ichiraku Ramen seeing how the song had finally came to an end. His timing was perfect.

"_You've got that, one thing!"_ Sakura sang along the final lines and clapped her hands gleefully.

"Hey, hey, Sasuke! I know why you took the extra looooong route to Ichiraku Ramen!" Naruto sneered and turned to his side to see a very confused Sakura. He then gave a wicked smile to Sasuke whose face was paler than usual, eyes widen. He could only imagine him praying and hoping Naruto doesn't blab out anything. His eyes narrowed, trying his best to intimidate Naruto from spilling out ridiculous _theories_ on his actions.

"You're just trying to rub it in my face how I still don't have a car, huh? So you take a longer route to show off your driving a little longer! I know, teme, I'm not as stupid as I look!" Naruto pointed an accusing finger to Sasuke.

Sakura slapped her forehead. "Naruto, you are so paranoid."

Sasuke mouthed out 'thank you' as he sighed in relief. Though a little pissed by the minor scare, he was grateful that Naruto didn't make it awkward for him. He couldn't—didn't want to deal with anymore awkwardness again. Things were going well as it is. They got out of the car and Naruto shut his door with a little too much force.

"Dobe!"

"Bastard!"

Naruto gave a big smile and a thumbs-up and headed in to Ichiraku, hands rubbing his empty stomach. "Teuchi-san!" he greeted the old man that owned the ramen store with open arms.

Sasuke waited a little longer for Sakura to get out of the car.

Sakura shifted her sling bag to a more comfortable position and smoothed out imaginary wrinkles on her red dress. She looked up to Sasuke, cheeks lightly tinted pink and thanked him. "Thank you, Sasuke," she said, emerald eyes gleaming. They stood there for a minute, basked in the warm sunshine, both enjoying the moment. Both wondering if the gesture meant something more to the other person.

Sasuke shrugged and gave his crooked smile, one corner of the mouth higher than the other and shoved his hands in his pockets. Sakura smiled back and headed towards the restaurant and Sasuke followed suit after locking his car.

Naruto peeked through the restaurant's noren curtain and saw the subtle signs. Naruto sighed with relief. Maybe they weren't so clueless after all.

He might not have to step in—

Just yet.

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(A/N: Words cannot describe how difficult it was for me to finish this one! It didn't flow for a while and I had to edit, edit, and edit! I genuinely hope you guys like this one, feel free to leave reviews, comments, constructive criticism or suggestions! I really appreciate your reading this till the end.

Oh, and FYI, a guy did this for me once, and I know it's a little subtle but I found it so sweet at the time! Nothing happened between us after that though. I suck, that's all. Haha.)

Wishing you all the best in your love life,

Sallis.


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